Author: Dan Gould

Dan has been a regular contributor to the Charlottesville Podcasting Network since 2008. He has produced over 1000 feature length podcasts for the site.
Posted on

Unconventional Oil: Illuminating the Global Paradigm Shift to New Petroleum Fuels

Deborah Gordon speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville Wednesday.

“We will never, ever run out of oil,” says Deborah Gordon in this interesting podcast on the future of fossil fuels.

Deborah Gordon is a nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Energy & Climate Program), where her policy research focuses on oil, climate, and transportation issues in the United States, China, and globally.

Since 1996 she has been a policy consultant specializing in transportation, energy, and environmental policy for non-profit, foundation, academic, public, and private-sector clients. From 1996 to 2000 she founded and co-directed the Transportation and Environment Program at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and from 1989 to 1996 she founded and then directed the Transportation Policy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Additionally, Gordon has worked at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1988-1989), under a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Gordon began her career as a chemical engineer with Chevron (1982-1987). Ms. Gordon also authors a blog on the topic of unconventional oil.

Ms. Gordon spoke at the Wednesday, March 13, 2013 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV board member Grace Zisk.

Posted on

Reckoning with Our Racial History in the Era of Obama

Douglas Blackmon speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville Wednesday.

The 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States, or did it? In this podcast, Pulitzer Prize winner Douglas A. Blackmon talks about what really happened during reconstruction.

Douglas A. Blackmon is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Slavery by Another Name: The Re- Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, chair of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center Forum program, and a contributing editor at the Washington Post. Mr. Blackmon’s book was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. The book also received many additional awards and citations and was a New York Times best seller. Mr. Blackmon is also co-executive producer of a documentary film based on the book which was broadcast on PBS last year. The documentary will be rebroadcast on PBS on February 22, 2013.

Until 2011 he was the longtime chief of The Wall Street Journal’s Atlanta bureau and the paper’s Senior National Correspondent. He has written about, or directed coverage of, some of the most pivotal stories in American life, including the election of President Obama, the rise of the tea party movement, the BP oil spill, and the hurricane Katrina disaster. Prior to his work at the WSJ, Blackmon covered race and politics at the Atlanta Journal Constitution for seven years.

Raised in Leland, Mississippi, Blackmon penned his first newspaper story for the Leland Progress at the age of twelve. He received his degree in English from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. At present he is time sharing between Charlottesville and downtown Atlanta where his family makes their home.

Mr. Blackmon spoke at the Wednesday, February 13, 2013 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV vice-president Bob McGrath.

Posted on

The Financial Crisis: Not a Perfect Storm

Dr. Richard F. DeMong speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville Wednesday.

What role did the human factor play leading to the financial crisis? What are the difficulties of regulating shadow banks? In this podcast you’ll learn how the financial system goes awry when risk goes to zero. You’ll also learn the meaning of “moral hazard” and how it played a role in the financial crises of 2008.

Dr. Richard F. DeMong is the Virginia Bankers Association Professor Emeritus at the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia. Dr. DeMong received a bachelor’s degree from California State University at Long Beach, an MBA from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. He is the author of numerous articles on subprime lending, managerial finance, investments, small business, and banking in leading finance and banking journals. Colonel DeMong is a retired United States Air Force pilot.

Dr. DeMong spoke at the Wednesday, January 9, 2013 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV board member Tom Boyd.

Posted on

Charlottesville’s 2012 Time Capsule

This plaque will mark the spot where the Charlottesville 2012 Time Capsule will be enshrined Sunday.

In this podcast CPN’s Dan Gould talks with Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society President Steven Meeks about its plans to “bury” a time capsule Sunday.

Steven has had a long time interest in local history. Listen as he talks about the historic ceremony to take place on Sunday December 23, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at the Society’s building on Second Street NE. The ceremony is a part of Charlottesville’s 250th birthday celebration taking place this year.

Unlike the 1962 time capsule unearthed earlier this year, the new capsule will be encased in a specially made compartment in the ACHS building. By enshrining the capsule above ground it is hoped that its contents will fair better than did those of the 1962 capsule. Listen as Steven tells the story of both the old and new time capsules and of the steps to make sure tomorrow’s capsule will survive until it is opened in 2062.

Posted on

The Encore Players: Family Visitors

Each spring and fall, the The Senior Center in Charlottesville’s Encore Players take to the stage to perform a series of one-act plays. This fall the group presented four plays, The Last Dinner, The Bickersons, I Know You Did It and Family Visitors.

From left to right: Gene Outlaw, Pat Cook, and Elaine McGrath performing in Family Visitors at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Energine is entertaining family. But try as she may, she just can’t seem to please her guests in Family Visitors. The play was introduced and directed by Senior Center volunteer Jean Newland.

The performance took place on Wednesday October 24, 2012 as a part of the Encore Player’s fall performance. This is the fourth and final part of this Wednesday series.

Posted on

Central Virginia Railroads in the 19th Century

Rick Britton speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville

On Thursday, September 27, 2012, Rick Britton presented the fourth and final lecture in our series entitled “Virginia History 301: The Old Dominion in Antebellum Times.”

The date is June 27, 1850 when the very first train rolled into Charlottesville, says Britton, in this fascinating podcast. Rail passengers of time could travel from Richmond, VA to Charlottesville in just 12 hours, says Britton. Listen as he tells the story of the early railroads of central Virginia, and of Claudius Crozet, the brilliant engineer who created the world’s longest tunnel through the Blue Ridge mountains.

Britton, an award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer organized the series in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

This is the fourth and final part of this series. Click here listen all four parts.

Posted on

The Encore Players: I Know You Did It

Each spring and fall, the The Senior Center in Charlottesville’s Encore Players take to the stage to perform a series of one-act plays. This fall the group presented four plays, The Last Dinner, The Bickersons, I Know You Did It and Family Visitors.

From left to right: Jeffrey Goodsell, Gerry Granroth and Levi Miller performing in I Know You Did It at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Sid is in trouble with the law. He’s a suspect in a local bank robbery. Listen as a police detectives attempt to find the truth in I Know You Did It. Encore Player Levi Miller wrote and performed in the play. The play was introduced and directed by Senior Center volunteer Jean Newland.

The performance took place on Wednesday October 24, 2012 as a part of the Encore Player’s fall performance. This is the third of a four part Wednesday series.

Posted on

Charlottesville’s First 250 Years

Steven Meeks speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville Wednesday.

What does the Pony Express, Miss America, the Philadelphia Quakers Major League baseball team, Chicago’s Iroquois Theater and Tsing Kiang Pu, China, have in common with Charlottesville? In this podcast, Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society President Steven Meeks recaps some of Charlottesville’s fascinating history from its first 250 years.

Steven G. Meeks was born and raised in Albemarle County and Charlottesville. For most of his adult life he has either worked or volunteered as a public servant, striving always to make his community a better place to live and work. He has written extensively about local history including Crozet, A Pictorial History and is currently working on a book chronicling Charlottesville’s first 250 years. He is also working on publishing Sheridan’s James River Campaign of 1865 through Central Virginia. Mr. Meeks offers lectures on the history of central Virginia and oversees the operation of the Hatton Ferry, the nation’s last hand-poled river ferry.

More recently, Mr Meeks has demonstrated his interest, competence, and knowledge of historic preservation through the work he has done and continues to do on historic buildings in the Scottsville Historic District. Since 1990 he has held an elected position as Director of the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District. His current affiliations include being President and Chief Executive of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, a member of the Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee, Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee, Co-Chair of Charlottesville’s Celebrate 250th Committee, Co-Chair of the Albemarle Charlottesville Sesquicentennial Committee and the Scottsville Architectural Review. He just recently obtained a Certificate in Museum Management. He has also served on the boards of the Albemarle County Fair, the Virginia Association of Fairs, the Scottsville Museum, Albemarle County’s Road Naming Committee, the Scottsville Planning Commission, and the Biscuit Run State Park Advisory Committee.

Mr. Meeks spoke at the Wednesday, November 14, 2012 meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The meeting was held at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience. The program was moderated by SSV board member Charles Smith.

Posted on

Edward Coles: Albemarle Emancipator

Bruce Carveth speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville

On Thursday, September 20, 2012, Bruce Carveth presented the third lecture in our series entitled “Virginia History 301: The Old Dominion in Antebellum Times.”

Carveth tells the story of Edward Coles, an Albemarle County native, who, on April 14, 1819, freed his slaves. The freeing of slaves by ones will was rare, freeing slaves while their master still lived was almost unheard of according to Carveth. Listen as he recounts the amazing events of Cole’s life.

Bruce Carveth is a writer, editor, database developer and independent scholar currently living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Mr. Carveth moved to Central Virginia in 1983. He discovered the little known story of Edward Coles in 1998 then joined forces with his writing partner Kurt Leichtle to publish Crusade Against Slavery: Edward Coles, Pioneer of Freedom in 2011.

Mr. Carveth has an MA in applied social and community psychology from the University of Guelph in Ontario, and a masters degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech.

The series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

This is the third of a four part Thursday series. Click here listen all four parts of this series.

Posted on

The Encore Players: The Bickersons

Each spring and fall, the The Senior Center in Charlottesville’s Encore Players take to the stage to perform a series of one-act plays. This fall the group presented four plays, The Last Dinner, The Bickersons, I Know You Did It and Family Visitors.

Dick Somer and Patricia Gadus performing in The Bickersons at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Pending surgery to correct his snoring problem is causing a bit of a stir for John and Blanche in this episode of The Bickersons. The play was introduced and directed by Senior Center volunteer Jean Newland.

The performance took place on Wednesday October 24, 2012 as a part of the Encore Player’s fall performance. This is the second of a four part Wednesday series.

Posted on

Virginia Architecture in the Mid 19th Century

Ed Lay speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville

On Thursday, September 13, 2012, Ed Lay presented the second lecture in our series entitled “Virginia History 301: The Old Dominion in Antebellum Times.”

Mr. Lay explains how classical forms of architecture, a form which originated in Greece, became known as the “National Style” in the mid 1800s in America. Ed points out that in the American deep south the practice of surrounding homes with Greek-style columns was popular until the Civil War. He continues with specific examples of buildings embodying this form, many of which can still be found in the Charlottesville area. Following his presentation, Mr. Lay answered questions from the audience.

Mr. Lay is the Cary D. Langhorne Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Virginia. A veritable font of architectural knowledge on the Old Dominion, Professor Lay has also taught abroad in Edinburgh and Vicenza.

The series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

This is the second of a four part Thursday series. Click here listen all four parts of this series.

Posted on

The Encore Players: The Last Dinner

Each spring and fall, the The Senior Center in Charlottesville’s Encore Players take to the stage to perform a series of one-act plays. This fall the group presented four plays, The Last Dinner, The Bickersons, I Know You Did It and Family Visitors.

Glenn Short and Betty Hales performing in The Last Dinner at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Listen as a customer with a discerning palate finds frustration while trying to procure breakfast in a New York restaurant. The play was introduced and directed by Senior Center volunteer Jean Newland.

The performance took place on Wednesday October 24, 2012 as a part of the Encore Player’s fall performance. This is the first of a four part Wednesday series.